Revelations
by IronRaven
Summary: What you think you see is only part of the story. Sometimes the best parts are hidden, not concealed but merely unseen. And when you see them, mysteries become known but often create new mysteries. There is much more to this story than just a few akuma and classes. Rating T to M depending on chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**1: Bones in the Desert**

Kwami were there when it all started. Long before Marinette and Adrien. The kwami and their humans, everyone keeps secrets. But secrets slip out, they always do.

Notes: I don't consider the violence here to be "graphic", but it may be unsettling. Please forgive me my typos. I'm rusty and out of practice, so it is NOT my best work. I only just found this series, and binged the first season in an afternoon. I like it, clearly, but I think the most interesting characters aren't the heroes but the kwami. But I needed to get this out of my head and pushed to the world so I could focus on other projects that absolutely need to be worked on right now.

* * *

Adrien raised his hand, the color of bronze, to shield his eyes as he look back the way they'd come. The cloud of dust was getting closer. He swore bitterly, brushing the dark hair from his forehead. They hadn't gone far enough, not by half, and the only hope he had was that the mounts of those behind them would bog down in the sand and buy them time to get to the river.

He looked the beautiful young woman who was already going down the other side of the dune. He knew she was, how could he not, but he'd never really _seen_ it. Unlike nearly every other man in the village he had not lusted after her. Well... not that much. He did have a pulse, after all, and he was pretty sure she could bring a mummy back from the dead. But it was her mind and her heart he'd really noticed.

That was why they were running. Her parents had promised her to the pharaoh's tax collector rather than see her be taken into slavery. She didn't want to marry the much older man. It had been very simple to break her from where she'd been held, and then start running. It was a day to the Nile. It might kill them, but she'd be free.

The only thing that hadn't gone as well in reality as it had in his head was that she'd seemed surprised and even a little disappointed that he had come for her. She'd been planning on escaping on her own in a little bit. That was very much like her, though. Best of all, he hadn't had to show his secret identity. If this went really well, he wouldn't have to, and his secret would be a secret.

For a little while.

They ran. He was tired. They ran more. The sun was hot. They ran. And the cloud of dust was closer. They were being driven to death, the poor beasts, but the chariots had been slowed as she'd hoped. That was where it had gotten weird. He'd broken her out, but hadn't had a plan after that. Of course she had a plan, she always had a plan, just like his true love.

His true love was one of the people's heroes. Just like he was. He'd never told his closest friends- he didn't know who she really was, and it didn't matter. And he hadn't told his father, the tax collector.

They ran. They could see the trees along the river now. They could hear the horses. She stopped, eyes going wide. Her hair was shorter than fashionable, but for a baker's daughter it made sense. It was so black it gleamed with blue shadows, just like his love's did.

The horses were very close. "RUN!" He tried to make it a scream, but he was breathing to hard, it came out a rattling rasp.

She didn't. Instead she grabbed him, pulling him down and rolling with him as a mace whistled through the spot his head had just occupied. They could hear the chariot coming around. He looked up at her, realization dawning. But as with the first light of any new day, it wasn't bright enough to see clearly, misty. She didn't freeze, she threw him down the dune, and followed with a cry that he could only barely hear- it sounded like 'Tikki!'. What did that mean?

He landed at the bottom with a sick thud. He gasped, then he felt a pair of familiar hands on his face, and a very familiar, acid tongued voice. His friend. He looked towards her in concern, but the little white feline had other ideas, roaring like a pocket sized lion. "She knows, kid! Now say it! Or you'll die!"

He'd spent years keeping this secret from her. From their friends. From his father. "Plagg- claws out!"

Hunger, thirst, soreness, they were gone in a flash of light. He felt the kwami shift, swirling around him, encasing him in flowing white robes worthy of a priest but without the gold and gems.

And he was more awake than ever. His lady friend, the girl he'd called Princess a thousand time, she was gone. The lithe, powerful form of the Moon Cat's partner had replaced her, the Red Scarab. She smirked, the smile lifting the red and black khol around her blue eyes into a second smile. "So... that's where you've been running of to all these years."

"Oh we are having such a talk." He looked at his best friend, his partner in heroism, the woman he'd loved for years. He reached out, finding his staff where it was whenever he transformed. Plagg had refused to tell him where it went when he was the Cat, said he wasn't ready for that kind of magic.

The chariot was about to roll over him. Ladybug made a simple 'after you' gesture with his hand. With a grin, he twirled away. The tip of his staff jabbed at the spoked wheel, slamming against the frame of the chariot, then shattering the axle. He had been expecting it and rode the other end of his staff into the air as forces involved spilled the charioteer and the pharaoh's tax collector.

Ladybug closed fast. She'd actually like the rather primitive looking charioteer and bodyguard. A mute, he'd been kind as possible when he was directed to perform his master's bidding, even it was to scourge man. She'd never known what threat was hung over the big ape, and she'd never have another time to ask. A sharp kick to the jaw ended their part of the disagreement.

Cat hadn't been actively aware of it, even though he'd seen the red moving on the edge of his vision. At the top of the arc, he'd left his staff, twisting in air to land on his feet and atop the tax collector. He hissed loudly. "She isn't yours, Father!"

 **-LBCN-**

Adrien Argest sat up in bed, drenched in sweat. He was so thirsty, he felt like he'd been on a force run through the desert for hours. He grabbed at the water bottle on his nightstand, chugging it dry in seconds, even trying to force his tongue into it for the last few drops. He'd get more, but first he had to catch his breath.

"Wow. Weird dream."

"Mrngggg..." The little black cat shape on the other pillow raised his head. "I'm sleeping here."

"Sorry Plagg. Nightmare." Without thinking Adrien reached down, scritching between his kwami's ears. "It was in Egypt."

"Ah. No cheese. Wasn't much of a dream."

"Oh, come on. You've been in Egypt. What was it like?"

"Boring. No cheese. Too much sun. Sand in my fur. Bed time." The blackness stretched, trying to curl up to sleep again.

"You were there."

"Hmmhmmm... couple times." The fingers on his ears were helping Plagg get back to sleep.

"No, in my dream. Weird thing was... you were white."

Plagg sat up. No, he didn't sit. He had been flat and then he was instantly upright. And not sitting. "What did just you say?"

"You were white." Adrien's eyes were wide. Plagg grumpy, he'd seen that. Sleepy. Hungry. Even angry, nose to nose and screaming at him. But this looked like fear. "What does that mean?"

"I used to be white. A long time ago. Egypt, most of africa, much of asia, that's the color of death. Not black." Plagg's eyes were wide. _How the hell did he see that?_

"Plagg... what's wrong? Is there something I need to know about?" Adrien had a sinking feeling.

"Nothing. It's just been a long time." The black cat settled back down onto the pillow. He felt very old very suddenly. He'd been there when the universe had fit in a thimble- that loud noise wasn't his fault, that was Vixx and Wayzz's fault, they'd been showing off in front of Nooroo and Ms Prettyfeathers. He'd been talking with Tikki, he'd wanted to say something really important. Then the others tipped over that thing and there was this really big bang... "Stay out of my head, kid. It isn't a happy place."

Adriene was quietly stroking his friend. They'd never quite settled who was the sidekick of whom. Plagg absolutely refused to be considered a magic charm. The blond knew that his black suit was actually Plagg; he'd found that out the first time he'd passed gas suited up. One of them couldn't handle cheese. Plagg was oddly quiet for a very long time before looking up. "You weren't you, in that dream, were you?"

"No. And Ladybug was there, but she wasn't herself."

"No, she was. She's always been what she is, but she'd had a lot of good humans. Was it the baker's daughter?"

"Yeah, why?" Just saying that made him think of one of his best friends. Other than Plagg he only had three. He was friendly with a lot of people, but he didn't really have a chance to know any of them. Ok, maybe Chloe, but he'd have to stretch the truth.

Plagg purred. "She was a really good Ladybug. One of the best."

"Was I that Cat? Is it reincarnation?"

"What? No, you guys die, you're done. Some of the Cats have had dreams about the past, other Cats. It's not a big deal. You aren't them, weren't them. They aren't you. You need to be you. You're Chat Noir." Plagg looked down, sheepishly. He'd tried to tell his boy that months ago, but Adrien had just wanted to suit up and be a hero. He'd done pretty well for someone who wouldn't listen and was a little late in caring about history.

"The other Cats- they died. With you."

There was a sigh. Plagg had this conversation with every Cat. Most of them freaked out a bit afterwards. "Usually. When the time comes, I'm going to take as much of it as I can for you, but enough pain and even I break." The little figure seemed slightly smaller.

"But you won't die."

"No. I can't die like you can." There was a sigh, almost a sob, but Adrien couldn't believe that such a noise could come from Plagg. "I can get hurt." His voice was tiny and hollow. "We can get hurt a lot... Don't, don't think about it. If the time ever comes, I won't let you suffer, I'll make sure it's quick. Now go to sleep- you've got school in the morning."

Adrien picked up his companion. Plagg had said something like that before. _All the way to the grave._ At the time, the young man hadn't thought anything about it until now. Adrien had a bad feeling that he'd woken up before he could die in his dream. Or before he'd killed his... father? He couldn't ask Plagg that. Some things he didn't want to know. Plagg wasn't normally one for being touched other than some petting but the little kwami let himself be held. That told Adrien everything he needed to know.

One, the conversation was over.

Two, it was great to be Chat Noir, but not all the time. Sometimes it sucked. Like right now.

And now he knew that being a kwami sucked even more. Maybe not more on daily basis, but certainly for longer. He wanted to know how much hurt his friend had seen, even if he couldn't take it away. Maybe that was why the cat was grumpy and bitter and snarky all the time. Maybe it wasn't the physical pain. Maybe it was millennium after millennium of losing his humans.

Adrien looked at the clock. It would be daylight soon. Maybe he'd sleep a little, but Plagg needed it more. He held the little spirit in his arms, the kwami mewling in his sleep.

* * *

 **Notes** : Yes, white is the color of mourning in most of east Asia, and in must of the world. It seems the greeks were the first ones to think up black as the color of death, and the northern Europeans made it stick. So if Plagg really is entropy personified, most of history would have seen him as a white cat.


	2. Chapter 2

**2: The Heat of Love**

When you wear a Kwami, some of their memories wear off. It isn't just a Cat thing. The warning about not-graphic-just-unsettling still stands.

Clearly, this was inspired by the not so subtle implication that Jeanne d'Arc was ridden by the Ladybug. I remember my history. And you can love someone so much you hurt them.

* * *

Marinette struggled in the ropes. She had been brave at first. Challenging them. She hadn't believed it was really going to happen until just a few hours ago.

That was when she'd told her companion to go, to run away. To find someone else. She'd sobbed, pleading, praying for her friend to leave her. She'd cursed the best friend she'd ever had. Told Tikki she didn't love the bug any more. Renounced her. Now Marinette was alone. They were leading her out of the cell. She refused to struggle. They lifted her up and bound her to the stake. And then they started stacking wood around it.

She closed her eyes. She could smell the smoke. She could feel the heat. She coughed. She screamed. She was burning. She was burning. She shrieked.

 **-LBCN-**

Tikki exploded into wakefulness as Marinette thrashed in the bed, wrapping herself up in the sheets. She'd seen that face before. Heard those screams before. Tikki wanted to scream herself as she tried to get her human to wake up. "Wake up, Marinette! Now... please, sweetie. Wake up!"

The trap door from below banged open, the burly body of Tom Dupan hurling itself through the opening. Tikki didn't want to move, but she had to. She hurled herself under the small collection of stuffed animals as Marinette's father skipped the ladder up to the bed loft entirely and just pulled himself up the joist to the roof- two decades of hoisting flour sacks heavier than his daughter mixed well with adrenaline as his little girl screamed in her sleep. He pulled her into his arms, his heart racing and his mind filled with terror. _She was alone, she was ok, it had to be a dream._

After a moment, the girl woke up. "Papa..." She threw her arms around him and sobbed. She was babbling she'd been on fire. What had she done? They were burning her. Marinette didn't know when her mother joined them, she just felt both her parent's holding her. It was getting crowded on the bed. She felt the plush figures behind her, and felt one of them taking her finger in it's hand. She calmed down after a couple of minutes.

"I'm sorry. I just had a nightmare."

"I'd say- you were screaming about a fire." Tom had his weaknesses. Seeing his little girl getting hurt was one of them. Not being able to protect her was another. Hearing her cry was a third. Most of his weaknesses here about Marinette or Sabine.

Sabine rubbed her daughter's back. "Can you get back to sleep? You should try. Do you need something? Warm milk? Tea? Cookies?"

Marinette smiled weakly. Her chest was still pounding and she felt sticky and sweaty and the last thing she wanted was a shower or tea or anything hot, she wanted winter. She wanted freeze a little. She could remember her dream, the flames licking at her, and then Tikki appeared. Shielded her from the flames, but only so far. She didn't burn.

She'd baked inside of a Ladybug shell.

After a while, her parents went back to bed. She couldn't sleep. Not yet. But she had to be sure they were in bed before she could ask for answers. "Tikki?"

"I'm here." The red kwami floated out from her hiding place. She hadn't wanted to hide, but she had to. She knew what had gone wrong. She knew what Marinette had been dreaming about. And that was the last time anyone but the Guardian and maybe the other Holders would ever, _ever_ see her and her humans together. It had been her fault, she hadn't been careful last time "Are you... alright?"

"I dreamed I was a dungeon. And I told you to go. That I didn't love you any more. And then they..." Marinette sucked back a sob. It was the worst nightmare she'd ever had.

"I know. I'm sorry, sweetie. I"m so, so, so sorry. You shouldn't have seen that." She hugged her arms around her human's head, stroking the crow black hair. "I'm sorry. I think you met Joan"

Marinette hiccuped with her tears, nodding. She'd known since the first day that the women who'd preceded her included Joan de'Arc. Who'd been burned at the stake.

"Shhh... it was just a dream. Let your mind clear, think of something happy. Like Adrien and Alya and your parents and cookies and a cool rain on your skin at the end of a hot day..."

Marinette eventually stopped crying and fell asleep again. Tikki stroked her hair, watching out the window even as it started to get light out. She glanced at the calendar.

Tikki didn't like this calendar any more than she had some of the others humans had come up with. It wasn't needed. The moon was full and you went out and looked at the land in silver moonlight; it got skinny until you couldn't see it and you looked at the stars; then it fattened itself back up. The sun always rose and you woke up with it, and you ate when you were hungry, and you worked when it was needed and you stopped when it was done, and you laughed and loved as much as you could, and you slept when you were tired. Seasons came and every one of them was beautiful. Putting numbers and names on everything didn't make it less beautiful. But one date she knew: May 30.

May 30, 1431. The English had captured her human, Joan. Joan had been one of the very best partners Tikki had ever had. So very brave and caring. And because someone had heard them talking, it made her a witch. That and wearing pants. At Tikki's suggestion.

It had been Tikki's fault. She'd made a mistake, she had been careless.

Tikki had left, Joan had told her to go. But she hadn't gone. She'd sat in a tree and watched and avoided spiders. And they brought her human out and lit her on _fire!_ When Joan started to scream, Tikki couldn't not do something. She'd flown in, forced the miraculous into place. And Joan wouldn't say it. Tikki had said it. It wasn't something that she should have done. It was a mistake. It had crippled Joan's ability to resist, it could destroy a human's body and it did end the bond once this last link was over. Joan had resisted her- she'd wanted to die, to prove to the English she wasn't this _thing_ they claimed, she could do more for justice by letting it happen and becoming a martyr. That was what Joan had accepted.

Tikki had mostly kept her alive. That was why they had to build the fire three times. The third time, someone had come for her. Not for Joan, they'd come for Tikki. He'd had to shock her to get her to let go. He'd... he'd done what was needed. The beautiful, brave leader was gone, by then Joan was just... a thing that could feel pain. He'd taken away the suffering that Tikki had forced on her human, trying to keep her safe. It wasn't to keep Joan safe, it was because Tikki wouldn't let go.

That had always been her problem. She could be alone, but she didn't like it. When she found a human she loved, she tried to keep them alive too long. Sometimes they suffered for it. Even as they loved her. She tried to protect them, but she... wasn't very good at it.

And it wasn't only the humans she'd hurt.

It had been her best friend who'd saved her. Abandoned his human, flown a quarter the way around the planet and nearly depleting his magic in the process. No more magic, no more kwami. It was that simple. That was how they could die. But he'd said that if there was no more Tikki, there was no more world worth saving. So he'd had to come for her.

He told her he loved her. Not "if it's cute, sniff it- it it likes that, pounce it", not "you're my friend and immortality would be boring without you". That he loved her. Since the start of this universe, before. He was in love with her. He'd grabbed her by her antennae and screamed it, pulling her out of the flames.

The sunlight glittered on Tikki's cheeks as she thought about him. She was careful not to let her tears fall on her human. She could hear him so close almost every day, and he was beautiful riding his human. Their humans were a good match this time, they'd spend a lot of time together once those two figured it out. And they would find Nooroo together, and free their friend from whomever or whatever was controlling the butterfly. And if they were lucky, they'd find the peacock as well, whom Nooroo had gone looking for. But first Nooro.

But every time she saw him, she felt guilty. He'd forgiven her. He'd been gruff about it. It was his way, and she was pretty sure he hurt, but he'd never admit it. The lord of chaos and master of destruction didn't admit to a lot of things, not out loud. He told her it wasn't her fault, it was his choice and he'd do it again if he had to. That she should forget about it.

But she would never be able to forget. She remembered the smell of his fur burning as he saved her. He was a black cat because of her.

* * *

 **Notes** : For those who missed it in history class, they burned Jeanne d'Arc three times over a course of several days, and made sure there was no bone fragments intact. Admittedly, this is the kind of brain that gave us the death of Edward II of England, but after a couple of days, you're either sure someone you've burned at the stake is dead, or you have reason to make very, very sure.

And this was also about the time the idea of the White Knight, the Knight Errant left popular consciousness. They stopped being something people looked for. No more white knight, no more moon cat. Plagg would have slept for a long time.

And if you aren't sure about what being the knight errant, the white knight, let me refer you to one of David Weber's Bolo stories, _Camelot_.


	3. Chapter 3

**3: Standing a Long Watch**

Secrets are often needed. Despite this, they weigh heavily on the soul. The good ones most of all. And they breed new secrets. And the worst thing about secrets is they eventually lead to lies. And laying awake at night.

* * *

Tom Dupain was half asleep, maybe two thirds, sitting in the corner formed by the wall and his and Sabine's bed. He had scooted his tailbone forward, so his weight rested as much on his shoulders and head as on his legs. It was not the most comfortable position in the world, and after the full day in the bakery, it wasn't very restful. In bed, where he knew logically he should be, Sabine breathed slowly, her arm sprawled over where he should be. But he couldn't go to bed all the way, not yet.

He didn't know why all this was happening. He remembered the first time Ladybug had been on television. He'd dropped a cup of hot coffee in his lap when he watched her making her speech at the Eiffel Tower. Sabine hadn't believed him, not at first, when he asked were their daughter was. Sabine had accused him of being a romantic and watching too many movies and playing too many video games. Of course that couldn't be Marinette, no chance, their daughter was 14, she was in school, she was a bit of a clutz. She was even a little soft- not pudgy, but that kind of strength and acrobatics, no, that wasn't Marinette.

Then he noticed Marinette just wasn't a little squishy when hugged- his daughter had abs! When had that happened? She was still clumsy sometimes- a few days after it all started she'd pulled a tray of croissants from the oven and tripped over thin air. Somehow she'd also caught herself on the edge of the counter with her hip and danced herself in a circle to get the tray under the croissants , all of them, catching the entire batch. They weren't as fluffy as normal, but they were salable. But that was only part of it. He'd asked her to grab him a few bags of flour from the back- two of them weighed at least much as she did. She would have had to slide one from the stack, onto the cart, wheel it in and then get help to pick it up or leave it there for him on the cart, it was ok. But he'd had to go help a customer with a special order, she hadn't seen him coming back when she just blithely tossed a bag from her shoulder to the counter, then the other- he could do it, but Mari? Then she saw him and she brought the next two in with the cart- but she hadn't asked for help. He was a gamer, he knew a level-up when he saw it.

Add in the missing cookies (Sabine was convinced at first it was a growth spurt), the fatigue (also a growth spurt), and the slight drop in grades (discovering boys!), and there had been a conversation between him and his wife. They were going to be supportive parents, they weren't going to panic. He reused the "you're getting older, someone might want you to drink too much or offer you drugs" speech his dad had given him. She hadn't evaded, she'd listened, and told him he had nothing to worry about. Sabine had won the coin flip- she got to have the fun conversion about boys, and if Mari was into girls they were fine with that and they were supportive and Alya was pretty cute... He'd listened in from the kitchen, it had flown straight into awkwardness, and stayed there as Marinette had slowly turned the color of a raspberry. The comment about Alya had actually knocked her over with a cry of "Mom! Noooo! I like boys!" and hands being clapped over ears. And she wasn't really getting taller.

But once that blog was up, and the photos started being posted, it was very, very hard for Sabine to believe what she was still saying. Ladybug was the same height. Ladybug's ears were the same. Her eyes. They even walked the same. And they had the same voice. Their little girl had someone turned into a superhero.

He'd wanted to talk to her. They weren't going to try to stop her, she was doing good work, but they could help her. Right? Somehow? Sabine had asked, rather practically, how he proposed to do that. He didn't have anything resembling an answer, just the belief that he was her dad and he had to do something. He'd honestly expected his wife to do something she'd never done, not once, in their relationship, which was to rub his nose in something. Most fathers read traditional stories to their daughters at bed time, and he had. Sometimes. He also told ones about the sleeping prince and how only the kiss from his true love could break the spell he was under, said true love being a lady knight. He'd read to her storied from myth, all over the world, stories of heroism and honor. Including the modern American stories, their superheroes. "With great power comes great responsibility." Stories where the good guys always hid from their loved ones, to protect everyone, and where a lonely vigil against madness and cruelty was the responsibility of greatness.

Sabine had never told him this was his fault. And it probably wasn't. But he'd also wanted to know how? Was she bitten by a radioactive ladybug? Had she found some magic ring just laying in the gutter, or maybe it had been given to her by a dying alien? Toxic waste spill? He was pretty sure she wasn't adopted from another world, of that was much he was confident in. But Sabine had told him "no" when he wanted to talk to Marinette and ask what was happening. He'd been the father who'd converted the attic to a bedroom for her, and installed a lock on the trapdoor up to her bedroom. He'd even made sure she could pull the latter to the door up if she really wanted- there were a couple bolts there, but they didn't really do anything but make sure the ladder couldn't accidentally fall over, it would take five minutes to get them undone. His wife had reminded him that he told Marinette that he trusted her to make her own decisions.

So he had to trust her. Trust was an all or nothing matter of faith. Marinette would tell them when it was time for her to know they knew.

Until then they knew about her hobby. If it became a real problem, they would talk to her. Somehow. How do you tell a superhero, no, you grades come before the safety of your city?

At least it wasn't that lonely for her. There had been plenty of pictures of her and her partner. Tom was morally convinced this Chat Noir boy was just a friend. Sabine had just giggled and gotten some pictures taken by friends before she'd gotten so sick of his puns and his flirting that she'd just asked him out. Ladybug and her boyfriend had the same kind of body language in the photos taken of them when they weren't fighting an akuma. There were stories, about how he'd blocked hits meant for her with his body. With his face even. That boy probably didn't even know he was in love with her yet. Sabine had patted his shoulder and told him to stop worrying. They could make it worse by butting in, not help.

He was still her father, though. So he did what little he could.

This spot where he sat, he was leaned against one of the main timbers of the house. The attic door could be opened quietly, but it could not be closed quietly and a person landing on the roof banged just the same as the door. There was thud that ran all the way down to the foundation when either happened. So he'd sleep here, sorta, until he felt the house jump and tell him she was home.

That she was safe. That she was going to bed.

That he could go to bed. The alarm would be going off in a few hours- it would be time to make the croissants soon enough.

It was almost one. He looked at his wife's hand before reaching for it, taking it in his. He hoped everything was ok.

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** And just a little ways away, how little does Gabriel's soul weigh?

I believe that Tom and Sabine know, obviously, but not as a head cannon or wishful thinking. Watch their reaction when Lady Wifi tries to remove Ladybug's mask. That isn't concerned citizens. That is terrified parents.


	4. Chapter 4

**4: Compatable points of view**

* * *

Alya woke up to something brushing her ear, and found she couldn't move. It wasn't a bad couldn't move, it was warm, but it's wasn't what she'd been expected.

Blinking, she looked over what was nuzzling her ear and why did her neck feel wet? Nino was asleep, his nose against her ear and... was he drooling in his sleep? Right on her neck. It was pooling in the hollow behind her clavicle. Eww... Kinda cute, but mostly ewww. He did look different without his glasses on. They helped to distract from his ears normally- those were big for his head.

Were they dating? She wasn't sure. He though they were. She thought they were. But he hadn't kissed her yet. She liked him, more than she had thought they would before Ladybug locked them in a cage. She wanted him to the make the next move, be manly and say something, do something. Kiss her. Even just a peck on the cheek. Or hug her from behind and nuzzle her ear. Without drooling.

And now the drool was getting colllld...

Her squirmed paid off- her arm was free. She palmed his forehead and pushed gently. He slept through being flopped back. With his head hanging over the edge of the couch, he started to snore. Drooling and snoring... Alya wasn't sure she could wake up to that every morning for the rest of her life. Even if he looked a little better fuzzy.

Someone had taken off her glasses to. Or maybe she had and didn't remember. She spotted two pairs on the table with their phones. She got lucky, finding hers by feel, putting them on. That was better, now she could see. There was a box of tissues on the table as well- she pulled several from the box and used them to mop up the saliva on her neck before it could run down her chest.

She looked him again. Actually, he wasn't quite so goofy looking. Ok, the ears still stood out, but maybe that was their protest to being under earphones so often. He was loosing some of the roundness in his cheeks. She blushed as she imagined him with a bit of beard scruff, his face a little more angular. Grow his hair out, maybe into a ponytail. Maybe he'd let her even put it into a top knot sometimes. Yeah, she'd kiss that. Shaking her head, she muttered at herself "wake up, girl."

She sat up, looking around the apartment. She couldn't hear her sisters. Which means they were up to something. And the television was off. And she didn't remember the blanket being over them. They'd been watching television while she was watching her sisters. They both must have nodded off. She tried to unwrap herself from the blanket as she stood up, but her feet were tangled.

She'd been trying really hard not to wake him, but physics didn't care. With her center of gravity beyond her feet, she failed to catch herself. To his credit, he didn't scream when she landed on him. He did grunt, and woke up a little cross eyed. "Hmm... hi, babe."

She blushed, her skin darkening. "Hi. We fell asleep, and I don't know where the little monsters are."

That brought him fully awake. He like Alya's family, and the smallest of it were likely to do something without thinking. "Thats not cool. Glasses?"

She twisted, freeing herself from the blanket. Oh, she knew what they'd done. Her sisters had covered them with the blanket when the two fell asleep, hoping, maybe, just maybe, their mom would catch her sleeping with a boy. Even if only in the literal sense. So they'd tucked the tails of the blanket into the frame of the couch. Hopefully there were no pictures. She kicked herself free, freeing them both from the fabric, flipping it back from the both of them.

"So... Alya. Why are you wearing my glasses?"

"What?" She looked at him. Those were her frames in his hand. But she could see fine. She pulled the pair she was wearing off. Those were his frames. "I didn't notice."

He laughed, trading glasses with her. They were both chuckling as they put on the right frames. It was an easy enough mistake to make, their style was similar. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. Yep, everything looked right. They looked the same.

Alya was blushing. They had the same prescription. That meant they saw things the same way.

The thought came to her. Not like a bolt from the sky. More like a mist, floating through her brain. Maybe she wasn't the only one waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Hey, Nino."

"hmmm?"

She waited for his head to turn, the humming grunt of inquiry in his throat before she took his cheeks in her hands. He froze, his eyes wide as she leaned in. His hands flailed, unsure of how to react without direction from his brain, which locked up as her nose bumped against his. It was just a tentative kiss, almost curious, then she pulled back. That was when he remembered he was an animal. A mammal. A primate. Human. An evolved, thinking, feeling human. Specifically, a male sample of the species. And she was a female sample of the species. And she'd made the next move. And she tasted good. His arms wrapped around her waist as his lips chased hers. Found hers. The second kiss was longer. It wasn't a question, it wasn't curious. It was a statement. Her arms went around his neck, crossing behind his head. The third kiss was a little longer, her commentary on his answer to her first question. They each rolled their head left, letting the other side of their noses rub. Her chin dropped, letting her nip at his lower lip. That couldn't go unchallenged. His tongue flicked out on it's own, tasting her lips gloss. His hands started to move a little lower as her fingers scratched gently as his scalp, frustrated by it's shortness when they really wanted to curl in his hair.

There was a flash of light. A giggle. They pulled apart as if by yanked on leashes. There was more laughing from Alya's sisters.

"Give me that camera!"

"Hey, not cool rugrats!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** So... reads are nice. Reviews are love.


	5. Chapter 5

**5: Overdue**

Wayzz sipped at the tea in his thimble sized cup while he an Master Fu read the book. Where it had come from, they couldn't say. This document was not supposed to exist. This meant that a Miraculous Holder had written down everything. Not only that, but while there was magic in the pages it was secured in way that even if you understood the language, you couldn't read everything. Even he was in there! This went so against the way things were supposed to be done. It wasn't safe, this endangered everything. But that wasn't the worst thing. "Master..."

"I know that tone. You think I'm making a mistake by keeping it."

"We have to send it back from whence it came. It's absence will be detected, and that endangers... You know." The turtle kwami glanced over where Tikki's girl sat, trying to do homework and just staring off into space.

"What do you suggest?"

"First, we need your camera. We need a lot of pictures of every page."

Master Fu smiled. The wisdom he'd acquired from his little friend was at least as great as that which he'd learned on his own. He understood that the connection between holder and kwami made them both greater. He could see that by looking at Marinette, thinking about how she'd looked and moved just a few months ago when he'd selected her and the boy. That the two children were smitten with each other and didn't know it just made him appreciate Wayzz' instincts even more. "And then we send it back."

"Yes, Master. We can give it Chat directly, or..." The immortal being of deceptive size smiled into his tea. The only problem with humans is they were too short lived- his boy was coming along nicely.

"Or we have Tikki give it to Plagg tomorrow while no one is looking. That might be best."

Wayzz nodded. "Yes, Master, that is just what I was thinking." Yes, learning well.

Master Fu leaned back from the book, looking at his companion with a grin that at first glance shaved a few generations off his face. "Marinette, thank you for staying."

The young lady looked up from her trigonometry text book and paper. "Master Fu?" He'd tried to send her home, but she'd insisted on staying as long as she could without being late for dinner. Master Fu had insisted on keeping the book, but she had to get it back to Adrien. Somehow. Without looking like she'd stolen it. OK, maybe Tikki had taken it from the trash, but there was no they could just hand it to Adrien in the morning. And while Ladybug could drop it off tonight, there were a lot of question that would be asked and she didn't want to answer any of them.

"This book is extremely dangerous, but if it is found to be missing, the person who had it will know something has happened. It is entirely possible they don't know what is special about this book. You say your friend Adrien had it."

"Yes, sir, but it was stolen and the thief tried to throw it away and I saved it." Which they'd already gone over.

"Do you think Tikki could get it to your friend somehow, secretly, tomorrow morning?"

"We can try. Let me ask her." Marinette leaned over to stroke the dome of her kawami's head. It had been a long day for Tikki, who had eaten her fill of almond cookies and was now sleeping with her head pillowed on the two she hadn't had room for. "Tikki? Wake up."

"Time to go already?"

Master Fu sat next to Marinette while Wayzz settled to the arm of the couch next to his fellow spirit. "Time to plan."

"Oh? Is there something bad in that book."

Wayzz shook himself. "Most of it. But it has to go back to this friend of yours, so he can put it back where it came from."

"Master Fu, Adrien doesn't know I have the book. If I just give it to him in class tomorrow isn't that going to look suspicious?"

"That, Ladybug, is why I'm not going to ask you to give the book back. Tikki, do you think you can get it into this boy's locker or school bag?" Master Fu looked hopeful. He was pretty sure which of her classmates Marinette had referred to. He'd seen Adrien talking with that girl who'd been the false Volpina. He was going to have to send Plagg a note with this thing.

Tikki giggled, nodding. "Marinette, could just put your bag behind your feet so it can't be seen? I'll phase through you and put it into Adrien's bag, no trouble. Like when I helped you steal his cell phone."

There was a tiny clatter as if a tiny cup was dropped, followed by a not so tiny cry of shock. "TIKKI! YOU DID WHAT?"

-LBCN

Marinette shook her head. Her ears were still aching from Wayzz's screaming last night. The turtle kwami had been incensed, but Tikki said it was ok- her friend had been super straight laced since before they "invented humans". Sometimes Marinette wondered about her kwami.

She woke up to Tikki's hands tapping lightly but quickly at the tip of her nose, mewling more like a cat than any insect, while her phone sounded the alarm. "Marinette! Turn it ooooffffffffff!"

"I'm up. I'm up." She killed her alarm, then sat up. That killed the glare from Tikki who was used to her human going back to sleep. Stretching, Marinette breathed in the scents of the bakery where her parents had been working for hours. She didn't know how they did it- probably going to bed before nine helped. "Did you think about when you're going to do it?"

"Chemistry class. Miss Mendeleiev makes everyone keep their bags under the benches so they can't be tripped over."

Marinette smacked her lips sleepily, stretching before padding over to her dresser to choose her outfit for the day. Tight jeans. The black top she'd finished the previous weekend, the one that used the same pattern as her mother's favorite dresses. "I'll be back with breakfast."

-LBCN

Tikki spent the day looking through as much of the book as she could from inside Marinette's bag. There were old friends here. Some that Fu didn't know about- they'd died before his first recorded ancestor was born. She didn't envy Wayzz explaining all of this to his student. She liked Fu, he was a nice boy.

Not as nice as Marinette. Dark chocolate and macadamia nut had been the previous day's cookie of the day at the bakery. Tikki didn't mind them a day old. The only trouble she had was Marinette's bookbag- it was bigger than the purse she normally hid in and she had been poked in a sensitive place with a pen twice already.

Ah, there was the acid tones of the science and math teacher's voice. Give it a few minutes for everyone's feet to stop moving. Tikki had to fight hard to keep from giggling- she should have thought of this months ago, but they had a job to do. No matter how annoyed she was with him, o r how much she missed him, she had to maintain Ladybug's partner's cover as much as she did Marinette's. She wasn't ready for Plagg's boy to know everything.

Or Marinette, if everything was everything. There were things they were going to have to learn on their own.

She peeked out of the bag- right where it was supposed to be. She heft the tome and focused on her solidity before zipping over to Adrien's bag, pulling the book after herself.

She felt the reaction inside, smelled the fear from her partner. Her best friend. The one who was her equal and opposite in almost every way. Who she was annoyed with at the moment.

Green eyes blinked at her. "Tik-"

Her hand pushed up on his jaw, closing his mouth as she hissed "Plagg, shut your cheesehole!" Oh yeah, she was annoyed. "Did you lose something?"

"Hmp! Mm-hmm-phr gr duh?"

"So you know where this goes. Good! Tell Adien you found it and then put it back where it came from. And you need to introduce him to Fu this week. "

The cat kwami nodded.

"Good." She moved her fingers form his chin, reaching up scratch around the base of the antenna on top of his head. "You need to be more careful. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I miss you so much."

The scolding she so wanted to give to him disappeared. "I miss you to."

* * *

Plagg is very much a romantic- he's a quixotic idealist.


	6. Chapter 6

**6: Sound of silence**

* * *

"Hi, Mama? I'm at Alya's. We're studying... Yes, yes, we're ok. I just wanted to say I might be late for dinner. I know Mom, it's the third time in two weeks... Love you, to." Marinette set her phone down with a sigh. That conversation had gone about as planned. Better. She was waiting for them to say something, but other than telling her that she should be able to make it to school on time because they were right across the street they were freakishly ok with her odd schedule. Her parents weren't as worried as they should seem in her opinion. She had a nagging feeling that something was wrong, but Tikki had cautioned her several times that over thinking leads to anxiety and paranoia and making mistakes.

"My mom says 'hi, Alya'." Marinette looked over her friend's shoulder. "If this is important, I can study this by myself."

Alya turned away from her computer where she was working on her blog. "Sorry. I had to set up post monitoring in the forum. Too many creeps."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how I get fan art. Well... some if it isn't for young eyes. And there have been some real sicko fantasies- not 'Ladybug, tie me up and spank me like a naughty puppy' or 'Chat Noir is so sexy, I want to peal him like a black leather banana and lick him all over'. That I could deal with. There are some seriously messed up people on the internet."

At first, Matinette blushed, then she went pale. "R-really?"

"The kind of stuff where mere mortals go to hell if they read it. Fortunately, I'm an angel so I can take it." Alya waited for the snickering to die down. "Besides, it lets me run the blog a little better. I just need like five minutes or so."

"Okay." Marinette debated getting out her phone, but it was in her purse. With Tikki. As much as Tikki liked her blogger friend, Alya made the kwami cautious. She knew the sprite would not be sleeping, but listening intently. "So it is like the forums about... say... sewing. Or models."

"More like the ones about models. You can't see the forums without signing up. All posts are reviewed by management until you've had 10 approved; can't start a new thread until you've make 20 posts without approval. Also helps keep out the crazies. Like this one, KwamiMommy- she thinks Chat is her son and she's just so proud. Nope, Chat's mother wouldn't be gushing like this in public, she'd be keeping his secret if she knew it. Delete. Where or what is 'kwami'?"

Marinette's purse fell over softly on the bed as the young hero blinked. "So... do you keep track of who people are?"

"Sure, everything is recorded, but she's just weird. I've got a email that I send ones like her, asking if they would be willing to risk the lives of a loved on if what they say is true. I give the IP numbers of the real freak shows to my host, they take care of it from there. But I like it better this way. Hmmm..." Alya turned turned her chair around, looking intently at her raven haired friend.

"Alya?"

"Marinette, can you keep a secret? A real secret?"

"Uhmm... Is this about you and Nino? I don't know if I want to know." The question just made her uncomfortable. In fact, Marinette was thinking she didn't need help with her English homework that badly... "Oh god, you aren't pregnant! Are you?"

Alya smiled oddly, shaking her head. "No." She leaned forward, putting her hands on Marinette's knees. "Something really important. Maybe not the end of the world or Ladybug's identity, but still important." Marinette felt the blood draining out of her head as her internal organs rearranged themselves alphabetically. It was an unpleasant sensation. She was speechless as her ombre-haired friend continued. "This would be like Chat Noir's identity."

"Hey! He's just as important as Ladybug!"

"I'm not saying he's not, but there are a lot of people who want to know who she is. Without her, he's just a hero, like an non-evil akuma victim. She's the one who purifies the akuma. Whoever Hawkmoth is, he's probably scared of her. Chat's her partner, and her bodygaurd- without him she wouldn't be able to save the day. And I'm pretty sure he likes to guard her body, if you know what I mean." Alya wiggled her eyebrow and leered playfully in her best Chat impression as all the blood rushed back up into Marinette's head,mostly her face.

"Ahmm... ah..." Marinette swallowed. "what is the secret?"

Alya leaned closer, whispering softly. "I'm not trying to find out who they are any more."

"What? But the blog?"

"Oh, I'm not taking down the blog. If it disappeared, too many people would be asking too many questions. But I've stopped looking for them. For who they really are."

"What? Why?"

Alya leaned back in her chair, the weird smile turning a little bashful. It wasn't a normal look for her. "After Pharoh almost sacrificed me, I realized something. If they were my friends, I'd keep their secret. And I'd want to be their friend. I can't do that if I'm planning on just smearing their names all over the internet. So last week I talked to my host. That is the real reason I switched to moderated forums. This way, if I figured out who they are, I can protect them." She paused, looking into the almost supernaturally blue eyes that were wide open. "Someone gets too close, I'll shut it down or let it post then mock the hell out of it to discredit the whole thing. I'd keep their secret. Even if I only had a theory about who they really are and I knew them, I might not ask them. You know what I mean?"

Alya turned back to the forums, choosing which comments made the cut and which that would be locked, buried and hidden from the world. Marinette stared at the back of her friend's head. Marinette had a hard time swallowing for several minutes, her mouth and throat dry.

"See, it's stuff like this. Look at this. Someone who probably has more pictures of Adrien than you do compared them to a bunch of pictures of Chat Noir. Seriously, people? Keep your weird fan fiction fantasies off my blog. Before I delete these, do you want copies of the ones of Adrien?" Marinette shook her head, gurgling slightly. "Ah, my little stalker has these already. Oh, and check out the user name this guy signed up with- NicePappaBear. I'm going to need to ban this guy right off, buh-buy pedo bear." Alya laughed loudly as she made the needed decision.

Marinette let out a soft squeak. "Ah... I'll be right back. Need to pee."

"Kay, it hasn't moved. I should be done when you're back"

Marinette grabbed her purse from the bed, dashing through the door. There was a squeal and a thud from the hallway, causing Alya to turn towards her bedroom door. "You ok?"

"Yeah... I just tripped over my foot." There was a sigh. "I'm ok."

Shaking her head as the bathroom door slammed, Alya turned her attention back to the Ladyblog. There had been a time when she'd seriously suspected her friend was the superhero in question. Same height, same build, pigtails, blue eyes, with buns that made Alya think about kissing girls. Add that to her being one of only two people in their class that hadn't been akumatized and never being seen near Ladybug. Ok, there was the time Alix was akumatized, but there had been two of her, so that didn't rule anything out, not even time travel. At first it seemed not completely implausible. Still didn't, at least on the surface, unless you knew Marinette. She couldn't talk to a boy without falling over; calling out Hawkmoth like that wouldn't be like her. "What was I thinking? The girl trips on air and has a bladder the size of a thimble. No way she could be Ladybug."

 **-LBCN-**

Safely being a closed door, Marinette opened her purse. Tiki stared back, both sets of blue eyes painfully wide. Both of them hissed to each other, trying not be heard. ""Do you think she knows?""

 **-LBCN-**

Alya pulled the to-be-blocked photos back up. Adrien as Chat Noir... Rich, handsome, reclusive, smart, and family trauma. She shook her head- that would have been too much Bruce Wayne. No way.

Nope. No way she was posting that. Chloe and the other psycho fangirls would be unmanageable if she posted that.

Nope.

Alya's head rolled to the side as she kept looking at the photo.

No way.

No.

Freaking.

Way.

She was bouncing in her chair a little as she clicked Delete, a private happy little dance.

* * *

 **Author's notes:** Sometimes you learn what you thought you wanted to know. And sometimes you discover, on reflection, you don't really want to know it. You want to give the information back, and take it out of your mind. You were happier not knowing. You don't want to know any more. But the mind doesn't work like that. And when you get used to it, you know that you've learned a new language. Not deception. Not honesty. You now speak silence.


End file.
